Since he played guard, perhaps the most unglamorous of positions, Will Shields has little in the way of numbers to prove his value to Hall of Fame voters.

But the numbers Shields has are impressive. He never missed a game in his 14 seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs and was selected to play in the Pro Bowl 12 times. He is one of four offensive linemen in NFL history to be selected to play in 12 or more Pro Bowls.

The others -- Bruce Matthews, Jim Otto and Randall McDaniel -- have already been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Numbers aside, Shields was best appreciated by those who watched him play week after week and down after down. If the Chiefs needed him to pull and lead for a sweep or get out and block a linebacker, Shields was athletic enough to do it well.

If they needed him to wrestle with a 300-plus-pound defensive tackle in pass protection, Shields could handle that nicely, too.

Early in his career, during a game in Cleveland against the Browns, the versatile Shields was asked to move to left tackle because of injuries to his offensive line teammates. He handled the chore flawlessly.